Israel Awareness Update
March 28, 2002
By: Yoni Merola, Natick USY Programming VP

Things have been going extremely poorly in Israel. Throughout the holiday, Jews have been scared for their lives 
due to the latest suicide bomber attack. On Wednesday night, the first night of Passover at the Park Hotel in 
Netanya these fears became a reality. Some had just sat down to begin the Seder as many of us were doing and 
others were still arriving when a Palestinian suicide bomber walked into their midst and blew himself up. The bomb 
was loaded with nails, screws, and ball bearings, and was designed to cause maximum damage in the closed 
space of the hotel's dining room. The explosion killed or wounded virtually everyone in the room. It blew out 
windows and brought down parts of the ceiling and set off the fire extinguishers. Over 200 people were directly 
affected by this tremendous act of violence.

In response to this, the cabinet met in emergency session late last night to discuss Israel's response. Hamas 
claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was carried out by Abdel Bassat Odeh, 25, a member of its 
military wing, Izzadin Kassam, from the Nur e-Shams refugee camp outside Tulkarm. Although new plans for more 
security checkpoints are being put into effect, security sources inform us that it is very difficult to stop a single 
suicide bomber. We can only hope and pray through our week of Passover that such atrocities will never occur in 
Israel again.

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